Blog

Recent data suggest that an El Niño weather pattern may develop in the Pacific Ocean this year. El Niños typically generate wetter and more frequent winter storms in California, with potential implications for erosion at Ocean Beach. What will these storms mean for the future of the beach, and for the recommendations in SPUR’s Ocean Beach Master Plan?

The Central Subway extension of the T-Third light rail to Chinatown doesn’t include a plan for future service to North Beach or the neighborhoods beyond. A community-led movement is ensuring the proper evaluation of the light rail extension. Residential, commercial, transit and tourist hubs are heavily concentrated on the eastern side of the city, yet not enough fast and reliable transit connections exist between them.

California's high-speed rail project, which will connect Los Angeles to San Francisco in under three hours, is making progress on numerous fronts. There are updates surrounding the project's construction, routes, funding, lawsuits and new business plan.

Between 2013 and 2020, California will earn between $12 billion and $45 billion in cap-and-trade revenue. The state has already received hundreds of millions of dollars from auction revenues over the last 18 months, with that number poised to be in the billions annually within a few years. Now the state needs to decide: How will the money be spent?

After many months of planning, San Francisco’s new urban agriculture program launched in January. The program, designed to coordinate and increase the city’s support for city farmers and gardeners, recently released details about its first year priorities.

SPUR recently hosted a charrette to look at how we can make the region’s array of transit operators function more like one clear, understandable system. Transit operators, regional planners, transporation experts and private transportation providers gathered to share what they've learned and where the opportunities lie.

As California grapples with one of its worst droughts in recorded history, many in the Bay Area are wondering what should be done to ensure that we have sufficient water. Luckily, water agencies in our region are already leading the way on innovative approaches to reduce demand by fostering water conservation and efficiency. Here's what's working.

Regional transit projects planned for San Jose's Diridon Station could make it one of the Bay Area’s most important transit and development hubs — if the area around it is planned well. The city has released a draft version of its Diridon Station Area Plan, which will shape the future of the area. SPUR has reviewed the plan and made a number of important recommendations.

Across California, communities have started food policy councils so that local advocates for food producers and consumers can work together to improve the food system. Earlier this year, a coalition of these groups published an analysis of legislators’ voting records on 10 different food and agriculture bills.

After a 20-year public process, a project to convert a landslide-prone portion of Highway 1 into a multi-use coastal trail is finally complete. The new Devil's Slide Trail welcomes hikers, cyclists, horse riders and dog walkers. With its similarities to erosion-damaged sections of the Great Highway, Devil's Slide offers a model for implementing some of the recommendations in SPUR’s Ocean Beach Master Plan.

SPUR’s 34th annual Good Government Awards recognized the City of San Francisco’s Legal Educational Advocacy Program Team for improving educational outcomes for youth in the juvenile justice system and curbing the cycle of young people who go back into the system.

SPUR’s 34th annual Good Government Awards recognized San Francisco’s Douglas Legg for ushering in DPWStat, a tool that has improved management of construction schedules, street cleaning, building and sidewalk repairs, and graffiti removal.

SPUR’s 34th annual Good Government Awards recognized Zoon Nguyen for rolling out the San Francisco assessor-recorder’s electronic system, increasing regular assessments and helping the city issue 500 marriage licenses in one weekend after the federal court announced the resumption of same-sex marriages.

SPUR’s 34th annual Good Government Awards recognized San Francisco’s Fire Rim Emergency Response Team for its quick, collaborative and strategic response to the 2013 Rim Fire, the third largest wildfire in California history.

Despite the inches of rain that fell in February, California’s farmers and ranchers are still facing a severe drought. Mother Jones magazine recently published an infographic that clearly illustrates the link between the lack of rain and the state’s agricultural economy. What it conveys is that this is going to be a hard year for farmers and ranchers in California, with nationwide ripple effects.

Earlier this month, San Francisco’s leading economists met to predict the future. Each year, SPUR’s Municipal Fiscal Advisory Committee brings together city staff and independent economic experts from sectors including real estate, hospitality and retail. This year’s Annual Economic Briefing illuminated several key economic trends impacting the city this year.

Why not address the Bay Area’s housing crisis — caused by a surge of new jobs without an equivalent increase in new housing — at its source? Alfred Twu’s fantastical renderings imagine Silicon Valley corporate campuses like Google, Apple and Facebook as complete cities, their parking lots packed with enough housing to accommodate their entire workforces.

A few billion dollars of transportation projects are converging in San Francisco: the electrification of Caltrain, the extension of Caltrain’s route to the Transbay Transit Center and the arrival of high-speed rail. How can we make sure these transportation investments improve San Francisco's urban environment rather than disrupt it? To find out, the city is launching a major study.

We are launching a one-week membership drive with a goal of 100 new members. We're offering a special introductory annual rate of $50 — a 33 percent discount. We'll also be raffling off prizes all week, so make sure you're following us on Twitter for the latest updates.

From President Obama’s State of the Union speech to local policy initiatives, there’s been a lot of attention lately on wage inequality and the shrinking middle class. As part of a major SPUR initiative, a group of Bay Area pilot projects will tackle these issues head on.

While San Francisco is a city that celebrates food, it's also home to many who struggle to get three complete meals a day. Between 100,000 and 225,000 residents have incomes that put them at risk of food insecurity. Two new reports show that even with collaboration among government agencies, nonprofits and the private sector, there are still many hurdles to overcome in addressing food insecurity.

2013 was one of the driest years on record, and 2014 is not off to a great start either. As we head into a third dry year, water conservation is more important than ever — and so is preparing for future uncertainty in our water supply by investing in reliable, sustainable supplies, as recommended in SPUR's report Future-Proof Water.

Two big lease deals in downtown San Jose indicate that the city center’s underappreciated assets may be proving attractive to those seeking more urban workplaces in Silicon Valley. Why did these two tenants choose downtown over other nearby competitors? Four reasons: access to transit, urban amenities, real estate costs and a responsive government.